Crucify the Mind

God never created man with an evil mind. We got that way on our own.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” - Proverbs 23:7. (Image: Unsplash)

The final part of our three-part series on the Mind, Heart, and Tongue takes a deep dive into the mind of man, particularly the thought-forming process and how those thoughts breed irrational desires in those who don’t have their minds focused on Jesus.

Here, we explore the building blocks of earthly thought and why it is vital to begin bridging the gap between thoughts and actions.

In Proverbs 23:7, King Solomon - the son of King David, who notoriously asked God for wisdom as he sought daily instruction from him - gave a parallel between a man’s actions and his thoughts. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” If we go from his explanation, the heart is translated as the creation center of the mind. Indeed, all of man’s actions are born in the mind and are influenced by good and evil.

Genesis 3:3 lists two of Satan’s most powerful tools of persuasion - temptation and lust, as the first two sins committed in human history. Through temptation and lust, Eve (Earth’s first woman, described as the weaker sex) broke the trust between her and Adam (Earth’s first man). But her sin did not mean as much as Adam’s, due to his distinct role as covenant keeper and the godhead over his union. Adam had a direct connection to the almighty, and because of his weakness to temptation as presented by Eve, but amplified by Lucifer, he broke the plane of trust between humanity and God.

The devil knows how to mimic everything that God does - even whispering in your ear to distract you and take you off God’s path. To be clear: Satan LITERALLY does not care about your well-being. His job is to use YOU to embarrass God. And he not only watches but uses your mistakes to drive you further off course.

We often witness this struggle. You start your day off with a prayer, thanking God for a good night’s rest and help with today’s tasks. Then the enemy starts filling your head with ideas that have nothing to do with your prayer and break your connection with the holy spirit. And he’s good at it, too. He makes the distracting thought look like a feature-length movie - a completed film, starring you as the lead in a scenario that involves you doing something you know is wrong.

The plot twist? Satan changes the details of the story, using your emotions and social interactions as a trigger, to make you feel justified in committing that sin: “Sleep with that girl next door… she’s hot! Get that man back for stealing from you… He deserves a punch in the face! Take a little more money out of the drawer at work today. Nobody will notice - and didn’t they cut your hours last week? You deserve better…” and then you begin to side with what you see in your head, instead of yelling ‘CUT’ on this production and doing what Romans 12:2 says, “Renewing your mind.”

You may be saying, “But I’m a good person…”

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8:13 (Image: Unsplash)

In your mind, you may think that you have a good heart, are unselfish, and caring. However, God sees a different picture when he looks at your mind. He’s not looking at your good deeds on this Earth or how important that work is to you. He’s looking at your mind - your true intentions when making decisions, whether they are godly intentions (actually involving the use of God’s power), and how that impacts your soul.

Temptation and lust still affect us today and can distance us from God. But there is something that you can do now to stop the devil from planting evil images into your mind every day - crucify your thoughts by RENEWING YOUR MIND!

When I say to crucify your thoughts, you are saying ‘NO’ to the imagination that Satan put into your mind about whatever he wants you to do. You do not have to bow to the temptations the enemy distracts you with.

Just like when the Jews and Gentiles demanded that Pontius Pilate crucify our lord Jesus Christ, we must be willing to crucify our flesh and deny ourselves the chance to gratify our flesh with its evil wants. Every day, we see, hear, and touch things that tempt us to disobey God and do what feels good to us. When the temptation comes into your mind, you have two options: to obey and indulge in the thought through entertaining your imagination, actually seeing yourself doing that which you KNOW is wrong, or denying the temptation by crucifying the thought before it has a chance to manifest into a desire in your heart.

A personal relationship with Jesus eases the burden of everyday temptations since He helps carry our burdens. However, those who don't know or trust Him often make choices without His guidance, which can lead to falling for Satan's temptations and lies.

I’d love to hear your feedback!! Please tell me what you thought about this three-part series on the Mind, Heart, and Tongue by using the COMMENTS section below. And thank you for supporting Faithspective with your viewership and encouragement. It means more than you will ever know!